While doing the following in my pajamas, I sometimes have thoughts: knitting, spinning wool, weaving, beading, soap-making, playing World of Warcraft, and just drinking SBC coffee. I mean to holler about them right here.

Monday, May 17, 2010

Stock Sock v1.3

I am really over having cold feet, so I have this dream of a drawer that’s overflowing with thick house socks! To see this dream made real before next winter, I need a pattern that’s really fast, really mindless, and that doesn’t have features that piss me off. You know, a stock, go-to pattern.
The part of the name, version 1.3, is due to it taking trials of three different short row techniques before I lit upon one I liked. It has no wraps and if you do the marker thing, it doesn’t even require counting. Much. The choice of yarn and needle sizes gives the thickness and the quickness. I recommend some superwash wool, since these will see a lot of wear. Self-striping yarn, like that in the photo, is like crack for this pattern!

Short Row Toe
• Have two stitch markers within reach and ready to go
• Provisionally cast on 27 stitches, and then purl back across
• Knit 26, turn
• Slip 1, place marker, purl 24, turn
• Slip 1, place marker, knit to the other marker, set it aside, turn
• S1, pm, purl to the other marker, set it aside, turn
• S1, pm, knit to the other marker, set it aside, turn
• Repeat these last two steps until you have 9 stitches being held on either end, with 9 live ones in the middle between the markers
• For the second half of the toe, S1, pm, knit to the marker, set it aside, K2tog, make 1, turn
• S1, pm, purl to the marker, set it aside, P2tog, m1, turn
• Continue with these last two steps until you have just two stitches left being held on each end. Just knit across, knitting the first two held ones together (ditching that marker), and making one after them.
• Pick up the provisional stitches, place a marker, make one, knit the last two held ones together, and ditch that other marker. This sets you up for knitting the foot in the round, with just one marker placed to mark the beginning of your rounds.

FootKnit until just 2 inches short from the overall length you want. For my 9” foot, I’ll knit until the whole thing is 7”.
Note how many rows it took to get to this length:______ . You’re gonna want to repeat this when it comes time to match up this sock’s mate!

Short Row Heel
• Have two stitch markers within reach and ready to go. This will work up same as the toe did.
• Knit 26, turn
• Slip 1, place marker, purl 24, turn
• Slip 1, place marker, knit to the other marker, set it aside, turn
• S1, pm, purl to the other marker, set it aside, turn
• S1, pm, knit to the other marker, set it aside, turn
• Repeat these last two steps until you have 9 stitches being held on either end, with 9 live ones in the middle between the markers
• For the second half of the heel, S1, pm, knit to the marker, set it aside, K2tog, make 1, turn
• S1, pm, purl to the marker, set it aside, P2tog, m1, turn
• Continue with these last two steps until you have just two stitches left being held on each end. Just knit across, knitting the first two held ones together (ditching that marker), and making one after them.
• Knit the next 17 stitches, then place a marker, make one, knit the last two held ones together, and ditch that other marker. This sets you up for knitting the leg in the round, with just one marker placed to mark the beginning of your rounds. Sound familiar already? After making it’s mate too, you’ll be able to make more of these without looking at the pattern anymore. I promise.

Leg & Cuff• Knit a few rounds for the leg, for as long as you either feel like it, or until you think you have just enough yarn to make an inch or two of cuff. Again, note how many rounds ya did ______, so you can match it up when knitting its mate.
• Now choose a ribbing that you like, and rib that thing for an inch or two.
• You’ll want an elastic bind off with which to finish. I used, and highly recommend, Jeny’s Surprisingly Stretchy Bind Off, becoming known as the JSSBO, ‘cause we knitters are just that kind of efficient.
You’ll find the original posting of it at on Knitty.com .

I love the socks! The pattern is great. This week was mandatory state wide testing for half the school and I was stuck as hall monitor for two mornings in a row. I made one sock during that time, and made a request to be hall monitor next week when the rest of the school is tested.

Thank you! Ya know, the Yarn Harlot said it best when she explained that she doesn't knit because she's patient, but that she's a patient person because she knits, lol. I used Adriafil Knitcol Trends in the 4264 colorway, called Warm Stripes. Which yarn did you use?